Toyota 2000 GT

Toyota 2000GT at a glance

Toyota 2000GT timeline

How Toyota and Yamaha created the 2000GT

Yamaha had worked on sports-car projects for Nissan after giving up its own plans for a car in 1962, among them a coupé prototype called A550X. When Nissan halted that work in mid-1964, Yamaha's president turned to Toyota, and the two companies signed their agreement on 28 December 1964. According to Wikipedia JA, Toyota had already started its own project, code 280A, earlier that year and had finished the basic chassis design. The A550X and the 2000GT share only the idea of a fastback coupé with retractable headlamps; their engines and structures differ.

The body was drawn by Toyota's industrial designer Satoru Nozaki, whose design was inspired by the Jaguar E-type, and the project was led by Jiro Kono (evo spells the name Jiro Kawano). The often repeated claim that Albrecht Goertz designed the car was denied by Goertz himself in a 1996 interview. Yamaha completed the first prototype in August 1965, and Toyota showed the aluminium-bodied car at the Tokyo Motor Show that autumn. How the 2000GT fits into the company's history is covered in our Toyota history.

Speed records at Yatabe in 1966

To prove the car before sales began, a modified prototype ran for 72 hours on the banked Yatabe high-speed track in Ibaraki from 1 to 4 October 1966. Five drivers shared the car, the event was approved by the FIA and the Japan Automobile Federation, and it set 13 records.

Porsche beat these times at Monza in October 1967. The record car itself was later destroyed in an accident while serving as a pace car and was scrapped.

Design, chassis and cabin

The 2000GT sat on an X-shaped steel backbone frame with double wishbones and coil springs at all four wheels. Toyota UK and Wikipedia list several firsts: it was the first Japanese car with power-assisted disc brakes on all four wheels, and the first Toyota with rack-and-pinion steering. A limited-slip differential and 15-inch magnesium alloy wheels were standard. The roof was only 1,160 mm above the road.

Inside, the dashboard was finished in rosewood, and the radio could search for stations automatically. The steering column was adjustable for reach. The cabin was laid out for Japanese drivers of the 1960s; evo notes that people over about 1.83 m find it tight. Road & Track, testing a pre-production car in 1967, called it "one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven".

Engines: 3M and the rare 2.3-litre MF12L

The 3M engine was based on the six-cylinder unit of the Toyota Crown, with a Yamaha-designed aluminium head carrying two camshafts. Three twin-choke Mikuni-Solex 40 PHH carburettors fed it, and it produced 110 kW (150 PS) at 6,600 rpm and 175 Nm at 5,000 rpm. With 1,120 kg to carry, each kW had to move about 10 kg; our power-to-weight calculator compares that with other cars.

Toyota UK quotes 0–62 mph (100 km/h) in 8.6 seconds, and Toyota claimed a top speed of 217 km/h with the 4.375 final drive. The MF12L was planned as a cheaper model for North America, with a single-cam 2.3-litre engine also fitted with three Solex carburettors. Nine left-hand-drive cars were built, numbered 100001 to 100009, but the version never went on sale.

Production, prices and the 1969 facelift

Yamaha assembled the cars in small batches at Iwata. In 1967 the 2000GT cost ¥2,380,000 in Japan, as much as two Crowns or six Corollas, at a time when a university graduate started on about ¥26,000 a month. Toyota is reported to have lost money on every car. In the United States a 1968 car listed for about US$7,150.

The 337 regular cars exclude the nine MF12L and a handful of other cars, which is why most English sources quote 351. A minor change of August 1969, designed by Heiji Kobayashi of GK Industrial Design, brought smaller integrated fog lamps, new front indicators, a redesigned dashboard, headrests, air conditioning and an optional three-speed automatic. Cars built up to July 1969 are called the first series, later ones the second series.

Racing and the James Bond cars

Before production began, the 2000GT raced to show what it could do. It finished third at the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, won the first Suzuka 1000 Kilometres that year, and in 1967 won both the 24 Hours of Fuji and the Fuji 1000 Kilometres. In the United States Carroll Shelby entered 2000GTs in the SCCA C-Production class in 1968.

For the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), Toyota built two open cars with tonneau covers. Both were one-offs made for the film, and no open version was offered to customers.

Values today

In October 2020 evo put the value of a good car at more than £400,000 (about €450,000). Other coupés of the same decade are collected in our 1960s classics section.